


Touch

by Beth Harker (Beth_Harker)



Category: Newsies (1992)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 12:21:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17224010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beth_Harker/pseuds/Beth%20Harker
Summary: David Jacobs might be ticklish.





	Touch

David had been bound and determined to stop by and see Jack, in spite of his mountain of homework. Jack had been bound and determined to keep David at his side for as long as he could. That’s how he’d come to suggest that David bring his books up to the roof, where it was cooler and quieter than the crowded lodging house.

It was dustier too, but Jack had to admit there was something about watching David, in his crisp school uniform, take a seat on the dirty ground, and loosen his tie. The first few weeks of school, months really, had brought with them a sort of tightening in David, made him brittle and defensive and unable to relax. Jack tried to tell himself that the pleasure he got from watching David was just happiness that his friend was doing better for himself, but he knew there was more to it than that. Jack was good at lying to himself, sure, but only when his fantasy was better than reality. He could hack believe that his folks were waiting for him on a ranch somewhere, and that he’d never been called Frances Sullivan. Convincing himself that he wasn’t falling for David a Jacobs, on the other hand, was a lot harder. It seemed like far too much fun to just let himself do it.

“I hate math,” David was explaining, as he covered a paper with numbers. He watched Jack for a moment, switched his pen from his right hand to his left, then continued talking “And, wouldn’t you know it, my math teacher adores me. I think she’s the only one who does. My history teacher is at his wits end, and my classics teacher disagrees with me about Antigone.”

Jack smiled as he listened to David talk. This was another thing that had changed since he’d first gone back. He’d started off thinking that maybe he shouldn’t mention school to Jack and the others, or that he should at least try to seem contrite and grateful every moment of every day. All in all, Jack much preferred knowing that David didn’t care for math, that he was contentious, and that he had ideas about Antigone, even if Jack had never read it and didn’t much expect to.

“Why does she disagree with you about Antigone?” Jack asked, after a few minutes, when David’s attention seemed to turn from him to that math homework that he hated. On impulse, he ran a a finger down David’s neck as he spoke.

“I–” David trailed off, a shiver running through him. He rolled his shoulders.

“Ticklish?” Jack asked.

David took a deep breath. “That might be one word for it.”


End file.
